Ronaldo Is Worth Four Times the Entire Hungarian National Team
- ING analyzed the cost of Europe’s top soccer teams, stars
- Spain’s team is most valuable at an estimated $736 million
Cristiano Ronaldo.
Photographer: Gerard Julien/AFP via Getty ImagesThis article is for subscribers only.
The 2016 European Championships will feature some of the world’s best -- and most expensive -- soccer players: Cristiano Ronaldo, Gareth Bale, Thomas Müller. Hungary’s biggest stars will be there, too, for the first time since 1972, though in financial terms, they are in a different universe.
Hungary’s 23-man squad would cost a combined $31 million in transfer fees, the least of any of the 24 countries competing. The 31-year-old Ronaldo alone would command $116 million, according to an analysis by Dutch bank ING Groep NV. The Spanish team is the most valuable overall at an estimated $736 million, followed by Germany at $633 million and France at $551 million.